Missouri Military Records Research Guide

The Missouri State Archives holds the best military records for the state. Records from the War of 1812 through World War II have been transferred there from the Adjutant General’s Office. However, that office still holds records from after World War I. Indexed service records are available at the Missouri State Archives for the following conflicts: War of 1812, Indian Wars (1832-38), Seminole War (1837), Mormon War (1838), Iowa or Honey War (1839), Mexican War (1846-47), Civil War-both Union and Confederate.

The records also include confederate home applications and confederate pension applications. However, only about 20,000 soldiers out of the estimated 40,000 who served are listed in the accumulated records. There are also Spanish-American War indexes available, along with World War I Military Service Cards and World War II Reports of Separation, which are alphabetized and indexed.

County offices, historical societies, manuscript collections, and other locations may hold Loyalty Oaths, which were administered at the end of the Civil War and were sometimes called Ironclad Oaths. The Missouri State Archives also houses some of them. There is an online index to the Missouri part of the Union Provost Marshals’ File of Papers Relating to Individual Citizens, which was microfilmed by the National Archives. The oaths range in date from 1861 to 1866 and include: United States Allegiance Oaths,
Correspondence, Provost Marshal Court Papers, Orders, Passes, Paroles, Transportation Permits, Claims for Compensation for Property Destroyed By Military.

Researchers can contact the Missouri State Archives or search their online index for more information about any of those records.

The Missouri State Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 5 (1985), nos. 3 and 4; and vol. 6, no. 2 contain information on soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War and were buried in the state, but the list is incomplete. Vol. 6, nos. 1 and 2 of that same quarterly listed the names of known soldiers who are buried in the state and served in the War of 1812.

Barred and Disallowed Missouri Claims – The Southern Claims Commission denied these claims by Missouri citizens seeking compensation for property loss. They were barred or disallowed for a number of reasons. Original data from the National Archives

U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 – This database contains an index to compiled service records (CSRs) for soldiers who served with units in the Confederate army. Most of the men whose names appear in this index served with units from 15 different states or territories; others were soldiers raised directly by the Confederate government, generals and staff officers, and other enlisted men not associated with a regiment. Compiled service records are files of cards that abstract original military records relating to an individual soldier. A typical CSR will include an envelope that lists a soldier’s name, rank, unit, and card numbers, followed by cards with details extracted from muster rolls, rosters, hospital rolls, Union prison records, payrolls, and other records, with a new card being created each time a soldier’s name appeared on a new document. The CSRs may also include original documents pertaining to the soldier. The CSRs do not constitute an exhaustive list of all men who served in the Confederate army.